Wolnicka-Glubisz Agnieszka, Wisniewska-Becker Anna
Department of Biophysics and Cancer Biology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.
Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7, 30-387 Krakow, Poland.
Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 Sep 6;12(9):1725. doi: 10.3390/antiox12091725.
Curcumin, a natural polyphenol widely used as a spice, colorant and food additive, has been shown to have therapeutic effects against different disorders, mostly due to its anti-oxidant properties. Curcumin also reduces the efficiency of melanin synthesis and affects cell membranes. However, curcumin can act as a pro-oxidant when blue light is applied, since upon illumination it can generate singlet oxygen. Our review aims to describe this dual role of curcumin from a biophysical perspective, bearing in mind its concentration, bioavailability-enhancing modifications and membrane interactions, as well as environmental conditions such as light. In low concentrations and without irradiation, curcumin shows positive effects and can be recommended as a beneficial food supplement. On the other hand, when used in excess or irradiated, curcumin can be toxic. Therefore, numerous attempts have been undertaken to test curcumin as a potential photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT). At that point, we underline that curcumin-based PDT is limited to the treatment of superficial tumors or skin and oral infections due to the weak penetration of blue light. Additionally, we conclude that an increase in curcumin bioavailability through the using nanocarriers, and therefore its concentration, as well as its topical use if skin is exposed to light, may be dangerous.
姜黄素是一种广泛用作香料、色素和食品添加剂的天然多酚，已被证明对不同疾病具有治疗作用，这主要归因于其抗氧化特性。姜黄素还会降低黑色素合成效率并影响细胞膜。然而，当施加蓝光时，姜黄素可作为一种促氧化剂，因为在光照下它会产生单线态氧。我们的综述旨在从生物物理角度描述姜黄素的这种双重作用，同时考虑其浓度、提高生物利用度的修饰、与膜的相互作用以及诸如光等环境条件。在低浓度且无辐射的情况下，姜黄素显示出积极作用，可作为有益的食品补充剂推荐。另一方面，过量使用或经辐射后，姜黄素可能具有毒性。因此，人们进行了大量尝试来测试姜黄素作为光动力疗法（PDT）中潜在光敏剂的效果。在这一点上，我们强调基于姜黄素的光动力疗法仅限于治疗浅表肿瘤或皮肤及口腔感染，因为蓝光的穿透能力较弱。此外，我们得出结论，通过使用纳米载体提高姜黄素的生物利用度，进而提高其浓度，以及在皮肤暴露于光的情况下局部使用姜黄素，可能存在危险。
